


Found Family

by AphroditeMadeMeDoIt



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Canon Related, EFA Fic Challenge 2020, F/F, Nicole/Rachel Brotp, Some angst, Tender Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AphroditeMadeMeDoIt/pseuds/AphroditeMadeMeDoIt
Summary: A day in the life of Nicole and Rachel prior to Waverly coming back.Set around 18 months after Waverly went into the garden.
Relationships: Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 11
Kudos: 136





	Found Family

It was a cold day, but then again, weren’t they all? Even through the peak of summer, Nicole thought nothing could warm her up. It was a miracle in itself that she was still alive and breathing when her heart was missing, being cold was the least of her problems. So she sat on the porch as she did every morning, coffee mug in hand and shotgun on her lap, and watched the perimeter. Today might be the day they come back, the day SHE comes back. 

Nicole had lost so much in the past year and half but one thing she never lost was hope. She couldn’t. Hope was the only thing that kept her going. It got her up in the morning and let her fall asleep at night. Hope would get her through this, because there was no way in hell that faith would be so cruel to let her die without answering Waverly’s question. 

That was the part that hurt the most. Forget about dying alone and never seeing Waverly again. Not having told her soulmate, the love of her life, that yes, she would marry her and nothing in this world would make her happier than spending the rest of her life with her, was the main reason why she would take the occasional shot or two of whiskey in the evening and cry herself to sleep.

When she really tried to be positive about things, she couldn’t deny that things could always have been worse. She could have died when she fell down that grate. She could have died when she was attacked by scientist zombies. Or even worse, she could have survived but had to spend all this time on her own.

Luckily she hadn’t. She had Rachel. Mini Wynonna was what she called her at times. She could be a major pain in the ass, with her sassy attitude and smart ass comments, but she kept Nicole in check. Especially in the beginning when they both agreed it was taking too long for Wynonna to come back with Waverly and Doc in tow and Nicole would start to spire down into a world of what-ifs and worst case scenarios, Rachel would be there to pull her out of it. Sometimes she would make a joke, other times she would take the role of the grown up of the house and talk some sense into Nicole. There were soft words and understanding and there was tough love and glasses of water to the face. Whatever it took to get Nicole out of bed and onto their daily routine. 

Because, although she really never did lose hope, some days she wished that she had. She wished that she could stay in bed and let the earth swallow her whole and maybe, just maybe, that would reunite her with her love. The garden was supposed to be paradise. If only she had been good enough through her life to end up there. On those days, Rachel would remind her that giving up was akin to suicide and that would just earn her a trip to purgatory. Since she was already there, she might as well save the trouble. And maybe, Nicole should have spent more time paying attention to church, instead of smoking behind it.

Nicole finished her coffee and walked back inside, a sigh in her lungs and a heaviness in her heart. She had chores to complete and she couldn’t just sit and wait all day. At the kitchen she spotted Rachel, busy caring for her multitude of kombucha jars, and suppressed a chuckle. Everybody needed a hobby, she figured. Especially a teenage girl that had no friends and spent her days fighting monsters. Who was she to judge?

“Morning, Rach. How’s the new batch coming along?” Nicole asked, feigning interest. She knew she wasn’t Rachel’s parent, she had never tried to take on that role and to be honest, considering the shitty parents she had herself, she wasn’t sure she’d do a very good job at it. But at the same time, she thought of Randy Nedley and everything he had done for her, and hoped to be able to do at least half as much for Rachel. But even taking the role of a mentor instead of a parent, being interested in the things the young girl was passionate about seemed like an important thing to do.

“Good.” Rachel replied simply, still tending to her jars. “How was staring into the horizon?” The teen asked in return, now fully facing Nicole so the redhead could see clearly the twinkle in her eyes.

“Same as always.” Nicole answered with a defeated smile. She had long given up keeping up her poker face in front of Rachel. They had been through so much together that they had become comfortable letting their walls down around each other. 

Rachel still used humor as a defense mechanism and as a way to push down her feelings of abandonment after having lost both her parents and eventually any hopes at a normal life at such a young age. And Nicole still tried to keep herself busy, physically exhausting herself, day in and day out so she wouldn’t have much time to think about the hole in her chest and also so she could just pass out from tiredness in the evenings. But despite any of that, they could tell, by the look in each other's eyes, how they truly felt.

“I’m going to check the traps. Did you eat already?” Nicole asked, washing up her mug from earlier and proceeding to fill up her thermos. 

“No, I was waiting for you. You can’t live off coffee alone, you know.” Rachel admonished her.

Nicole sighed. She knew the younger girl was right but at the same time really didn’t feel like eating. She never did these days. One look at Rachel though and she saw the teen would not be taking no for an answer.

“Yes, mom, I’ll have some toast.” Nicole relented sarcastically, rolling her eyes at the girl but with a clear smile on her face. “Should I make you some?”

“What? No eggs Benedict? No bacon pancakes?” Rachel joked back. Their diet had been pretty basic for the past few months. With the way things were going in town, they avoided it at all cost. Instead they would, now and again, go on expeditions, as they called it, to the big city and buy a truckload of non perishable supplies and make it last as far as they could. They would make their own bread and their own pasta and most of their vegetables and meats would come from a can, but they never complained. They were safe in the homestead, they had enough food to keep them going and they had each other. Until the others came back, that was enough.

Nicole prepared their simple breakfast and they ate it in comfortable silence. Rachel was busy reading one of Waverly’s big dusty tomes, researching the newest monster they had encountered, while Nicole made mental notes of all she wanted to get accomplished today. She needed to check that all their traps were still in one piece and working after the big snow storm of the night before. She also had to inspect the roof of the barn for any signs of damage. She had already reinforced and fixed the whole main house during the summer months but she had not had the time to do the same with the barn and considering how they used it for storage, she would have to fix things along the way during winter and hope for the best, lest their supplies be ruined.

After breakfast, Nicole left Rachel with the task of cleaning up and continuing her research, and headed outside for her own chores. She had a lot of ground to cover and the days were much shorter in winter so she had no time to lose. 

She did quick work of checking all the traps and luckily only one of them had been damaged so in no time, she was back in the house for a quick lunch of toast and canned soup before heading out again to fix things in the barn. That part however, was trickier than expected. With all the snow piled up on the roof, getting anything replaced took a lot of care and effort in order to ensure she wouldn’t make matters worse.

By the time she got back in the house, it was already late and Rachel was preparing dinner. From what Nicole could see on the stove, they would be having a feast today, consisting of grilled spam, mixed canned vegetables and fresh rice. 

“I didn’t know the queen was coming over?” Nicole joked while pouring herself a generous serving of whiskey in a glass. Rachel slapped her arm over the comment and was about to reply when Nicole noticed her eyes dropping to the alcohol on her hands. “It’s too cold and I might have pushed myself too hard so you know, the leg.” Nicole explained with a shrug, not waiting for the question she knew was bound to come.

“Well, dinner will be done in a few minutes. I’ll come get you when it’s ready.” Rachel said with understanding in her eyes. Nicole knew she wouldn’t push it so she gave the younger girl a thankful smile and walked outside to sit at her usual place on the porch.

In a few minutes, as promised, Rachel came outside but instead of dragging Nicole inside with her, she sat down next to the redhead and placed a comforting hand on her knee.

“They will come back. You know that, right?” Rachel said, mirroring Nicole and looking out at the perimeter. Not that they could see much in the darkness of the evening.

“Yes, I know.” Nicole replied with a sigh. “I also know that I’m supposed to be taking care of you, but more often than not, you are taking care of me.” Nicole turned and smiled at the teen, pride shining in her eyes. “You are a really good kid. Your mom would be proud.”

“Yeah.” Rachel replied with a shy smile, turning her eyes back to the perimeter of the property. “How do you think Waverly will react when she finds out you have a kid now?” Rachel tried to be nonchalant about the question, but Nicole could tell by the way her posture changed, that this might have been something the younger girl had been worrying about.

“I’m sure she will love you. How could she not?” Nicole answered easily, grabbing the hand that was resting on her knee and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Rachel just nodded, still looking ahead, and rested her head on the redhead’s shoulder as they looked forward in hopeful expectation.

And just like that, for the first time in 18 months, Nicole felt like the hole in her chest was a little less empty and the blood pumping in her veins was just a touch warmer. And in that tender moment, Nicole realized that they’d be ok. No matter how long she had to wait for Waverly to come back, she could do it, because she and Rachel might have lost their families but they had also found a new family in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading. I do not have a beta and English is not my first language so apologies for the mistakes.
> 
> And as always, let me know what you think!


End file.
